TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS TRAIL MAIL:

A MAN OF FEW WORDS

Hi Clubby: Thanks for the confirmation that I'm in for the Tragics ride. I know you asked for some stories and photos, but I don’t know that I have any “short” stories at the moment however I have attached a pic from a Victorian! Hope you like it.

-- Ian, Ténéré Tragic #42

That's okay, Ian, you can let your photo do all the talking. The Victorian high country will always be a mighty fine backdrop for a stunning adventure machine like the Ténéré, so thanks for sharing your photo with us. Now, as for all you other Ténéré Tragics, send us you photos and stories so we can post them here on the Tragics web page for all to see! Email them to teneretragics@trailzone.com.au

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragics #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS TRAIL MAIL:

AT LEAST IT'S THE ULTIMATE TOW VEHICLE

Hi all: Here's a photo that Whitey took from our trip to Mungo National Park this year of myself on the new 1200 towing my mate Mark on my older XT600ZU Tenere -- feel free to use this if you like. The trip report is on the ORE forum, so check it out!

-- Dave, Ténéré Tragic #43

Well, it's not often that a Ténéré doesn't get all the way there and back again under it's own steam, so we have to express our shock and amazement at this apparent 'photographic evidence' of a classic Ténéré having to be towed home. But hey, at least it is a mighty classy tow vehicle! Thanks for the photo, Dave -- which Ténéré will you be riding on the Run to the Rocks? The new or the old?

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS TRAIL MAIL:

DREAMING OF BEING A TÉNÉRÉ TRAGIC

Hi Clubby: We met briefly at Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges in August 2009. I was on the overloaded white V-Strom heading up the Birdsville Track and onto the Gulf Country with a KLR and a Peg. We all made it without falling off. A few months ago I picked up a 34L Ten in need of a slight resto (see photo). Mine won't be ready in time as it is more than stuffed. You can see the full story here http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=627820 Rest assured I will be there with you blokes in spirt!

-- Daniel, Ténéré Tragic of the Future

Thanks for your email, Daniel. I remember you blokes all too well -- for the fact you guys were all so loaded up for your mighty tour. Great to hear you made it all the way home again safe and sound. Love the photo of your Ténéré ... surely a few hours in the workshop would have that little beauty on the road and mobile again?! We'll be thinking of you, and in the meantime, get that beast of yours ready for the Ténéré Tragics 2012 edition!

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS TRAIL MAIL:

MIKE GETS A TASTE OF EMU BITTER

Dear Fellow Tenere Tragics: I thought I would send in a couple of pics for the album: the first is from a beach ride on stock tyres when my Ténéré was only six weeks old. The second photo (published here) is the result of a hit from Emu #17 (so called as I had dodged the first 16!) outside of Thargomindah in September 2010 on a practice run for a Longest Day attempt in December. The feathers, front guard and emu guts on the bash plate indicate the Ténéré won the duel! The bike did not go down, despite going off the road and was still rideable, albeit with a broken headlight and bent front disc brake, forks, radiator and frame. The damage bill came to $5,000 after replacing the fairings etc but thankfully it was covered on insurance.

-- Mike, Ténéré Tragic #19

Talk about a close encounter of the feathered kind, Mike! That clash with the emu must have been way to close for comfort, so it's great to learn you and your Ténéré lived to tell the tale. So how's the Longest Day attempt shaping up now? Sounds like it's still pretty wet out west there on the way to Corner? You doing to get the jon done, or what?

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS TRAIL MAIL:

WAYNE'S BIG OUTBACK TRIP

Hi All Tragics! Here are some photos of a trip we did in August to the Flinders Ranges, Lake Eyre and William Creek. We had an awesome ride and we have heaps more photos, but we hope you can use these on the web site. Thanks!

-- Wayne, Ténéré Tragic #39

Thanks for the photos, Wayne. Great to see you boys putting your new XTZs to good use on a run up through the Flinders. Having been there a couple of months ago, you'll know what to expect on the Run to the Rocks next March -- C U there!

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS DREAMING:

A TÉNÉRÉ 250 -- FOR REAL!

If you thought you had the most exclusive Ténéré of all in Australia, thing again.

Have you ever seen a 250 Ténéré? No? Nor had we ... until this photo landed in our Inbox from a Ténéré Tragics follower in South America.

It turns out that Yamaha actually makes a 250 Ténéré (in the photo on the right) in South America and what a little ripper it is, complete with fat tank, fairing, stepped seat and low front guard like its 660cc brother -- and Ténéré badges, of course.

We'll just have to wait and see if one turns up at our Ténéré Tragics Run to the Rocks ride!

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS PROFILE:

MY NAME IS MIKE & I AM A TÉNÉRÉ TRAGIC

Hi Clubby: Here is my Registration form for the Ténéré Tragics Run to the Rocks. I hope I'm early enough to make it into the priveleged 50 Tragics. I'll follow this by actually mailing the registration form, so you have the original signatures etc. Now I just have to finish putting the bike back together -- just as well I have the whole of summer to finish it and then take it for a good 'shakedown' trip. Have a look at this photo: this is what my Tenere currently looks like ... anyway, keep up the great work!

-- Mike (a fellow Ténéré Tragic)

Thanks for your paperwork, Mike, you've made it in time. As of right now we're up to almost 40 Tragics all locked and loaded for the Run to Rocks, so the places are fast filling up. Thanks for the photo: hey, at least the motor's in the frame ... so it could have been worse! Anyway, get back out there and keep polishing that beast and we'll see you in March!

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS DREAMING:

WILL THE WOLFMAN SEE HIS XT1200Z IN TIME FOR TRAGICS?

Of course, Lance 'Russ' Turnley is not the only Ténéré Tragic under the pump to get his bike organsied for our fast-approaching Run to the Rocks.

Spare a thought for one of our event sponsors, Steve 'Wolfman' Smith from AdventureMoto.com.au -- his bike isn't even in the country right now!

You see, for as long as we've known him, the Wolfman has been a card-carrying member of the BMW brigade: X-Challenge, F 800 GS and R 1200 GS Adventure -- the Wolfman has long had Germany's finest adventure machinery parked beneath his backside.

But then when the XT1200Z Super Ténéré arrived this year, he took one look at it, and was caught within the same mystical spell that has hooked all we long-suffering Ténéré Tragics.

Before long he started dreaming dreams of the fabled Ténéré Desert in the arid heartland of Africa and decreed: "That's it, the Big Pig is going, I've gotta get a Super Ténéré!"

And he did, with a shiny new XT1200Z parked in the AdventureMoto.com.au workshop a matter of weeks later.

But then guess what happened?

Wolfy took a call from his suppliers at Giant Loop and Altrider in the USA, who enquired, "You know, Wolfman, mate, if we could have your Super Tenere, we could get a head-start on sizing up accessories for the new bike ... could you box it up and air-freight it over to us?"

But why couldn't the Yanks get their own XT1200Z right there on their home-turf?

Because the Super Ténéré doesn't hit the showroom floor in the USA until May next year!

Anyway, long story short, Wolfy agreed to fly his zero-mile shiny new XT1200Z to America, where it has since touched down and the boys at Giant Loop and Altrider have been giving it a right royal caning (see pic) all in the name of 'new product development'.

You can see more of the product development here:

http://www.altrider.com/blog

And here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8c8cg8IzMU

Of course seeing his bike being hammered like that brings a tear to the Wolfman's eye.

And now the tight-fisted Yanks are only offering to send Wolfy's XT1200Z back via sea-freight when they're finished with it. If it's not a smoking wreck by then ...

So Wolfman is quite rightly peaking and sweating bullets that he has his bike back in time for the Ténéré Tragics Run to the Rocks.

If not, well, the Wolfman can always ride pillion with Russ on the ORE Super Clunker ...

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

PS: Okay all you Ténéré Tragics, how is your bike preparation for the Run to the Rocks shaping up? Send us your stories and photos to teneretragics@trailzone.com.au and we'll post 'em up!

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS DREAMING:

WILL RUSS GET THE ORE SUPER CLUNKER READY???

With over 30 registered and paid-up Ténéré Tragics now on the books, there's no doubt much feverish activity will be going on in workshops around the country as we Tragics polish our Ténérés and get our mighty machines ready for the Run to the Rocks.

And nowhere will the activity be more feverish than in the ORE Garage of www.offroadexplorer.com webmaster, Lance 'Russ' Turnely.

You see, Russ is a Super Ténéré Tragic and his pride and joy is an ol' banger original XTZ750 Super Ténéré that he paid way too much for and had to be skull-dragged off the trailer when he got it home because the front wheel had seized up ... and that was just the start of his dramas.

At the time I borrowed a classic line from Seinfeld and declared, ‘I give you a year!’ to get his Super Clunker (as we have lovingly dubbed it!) up and running and out on the adventure highway.

Well, thanks to the engineering prowess and mechanical skills of Clive from the MotorcycleBiz workshop near Newcastle, NSW, Russ managed to get his XTZ mobile and it even sailed through a rego inspection. Yes, I was amazed.

But since then the silence from the ORE Garage has been deafening ... what of the mighty ORE Super Clunker? Good question.

Well, the word is the inaugural Ténéré Tragics Run to the Rocks has fired Russ back into action and he's in for the ride and he's going to do it on the ORE Super Clunker ... is he mad, is he brave, is he crazy, or is he truly tragic? Perhaps he is all of the above.

All I can say is, if Russ DOES actually get the XTZ to the start of the Getting There Ride in Hillston, and he then DOES get all the way to Arkaroola, well, he will be truly deserving of a very special award at the Ténéré Tragics Run to the Rocks Bivouac BBQ dinner!

And if he doesn't make it, well, let's just hope Russ is packing a tow-rope and plenty of beer money to bribe a fellow Tragic on a new XT1200Z to get him home!

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS DREAMING:

THE STORY BEHIND YAMAHA'S WORLDCROSSER

You can’t possibly call yourself a Ténéré Tragic if you haven’t been drooling all over your computer keyboard and monitor for the past few weeks since Yamaha unveiled the Worldcrosser concept bike at the Intermot Show in Germany last month.

The Worldcrosser is a Yamaha XT1200Z Super Ténéré on steroids!

Now Yamaha has revealed the story behind the brawny blue machine, via the Yamaha Design Cafe web site:

http://www.yamaha-motor.gr/designcafe/en/

Copy the link into your web browser and then clink on the Worldcrosser links and follow the page prompts.

Try as I might I'd love to be able to pull the strings to get the Worldcrosser to the Flinders Ranges for our Ténéré Tragics festival, but somehow I think there's a very long list of people wanting to throw a leg over this snarling blue beast ... but hey, that's not gonna stop me from asking!

And it shouldn't stop any truly Super Ténéré Tragic from taking an XT1200Z and building their own Worldcrosser!

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS PROFILE:

MY NAME IS RICHARD & I'M A TÉNÉRÉ TRAGIC

As per your request for pics and stories re the Ten, I thought I would note down some of the trips we have done over the past 12 months since I purchased my 2010 Ten in Oct 09. I saw the 2010 Ten the week it was released in Au and purchased and picked up a black one a week later. A lot of homework was done beforehand: BMW GS 650 or GS 800, DR650 or KLR650. But after reading all the reports from Europe, I knew what I wanted even before I saw it, but I had to see it before I forked over the cash.

I typically ride with Pete (XT660R 2008) and George (GS 650 2007). We have done the following treks on the Ten:

Jan 2010: Barry Way, 2 days, 1200km:

Melbourne to Albury (road) to Jindabyne (over Snowy Mountains) stayed in caravan park – then down the Barry Way to Bairnsdale and home to Melbourne. Was an awesome ride – going over the Snowy Mountains was fun and great to see the Snowy Mountains electricity scheme.

May 2010 – Oodnadatta Track:

What inspired me to adventure riding? About 15 years ago, in my mid 20s I used to go goat shooting in the northern Flinders Ranger on bikes at Warraweena HS (near Beltana). During one of our trips, we went to the Marree camel races and had a ball. As we were leaving Marree, two large fully-decked out adventure bikes arrived. I said to my mate, "I will do that one day!!!" Perhaps a mid-life crisis has hit, but I am now starting to fulfil that dream! And boy, has Marree changed for the better. It was an absolute #$%^ hole (much like Oodnadatta is today) but now it’s a great place. So in May 2010 we did the following trip – two bikes only – Pete and myself (no support vehicle): Melbourne to Mildura by road, then Mildura to Broken Hill via Pooncarrie and Minindee (over 60 per cent dirt) and stayed two days. Next came Broken Hill via Yunta to Arkaroola where we did the extreme 4wd track – just 13 km but it took us the whole arvo! From Arkaroola we rode to Marree then on to William Creek via dirt the whole way and loved the pub there (great people!) and took a flight over Lake Eyre, which was awesome. Next up was William Creek to Oodnadatta, but the less said of that place the better. We had intended on staying two nights at Oodnadatta, with the second day, a trip to Mt Dare and Dalhousie Springs, however in the “driest and hottest” town in Australia, it rained 35mm that night, so the next day all roads were closed except the road to Marla – the way out. So we took it! We went to Cooper Pedy, then Quorn, Bordertown and home. All up we did 4,300km in 13 days and it was an awesome trip.

November 2010 Little Desert / Grampians:

We would like to cross the Simpson Desert but neither Pete nor myself have sand experience, so we headed off to Little Desert. For me, it was a complete success. I know now I cannot ride on sand! A lot more practice is required ...

Of course I'm happy for you guys to use the pics and this story in your magazine or on the Ténéré Tragics web site. It should be a great event – can’t wait to get there!

– Richard, Ténéré Tragic

Nice job, Richard: thanks for submitting your story and photos of you and your Ténéré out there in the boonies and racking up the big miles. Oh, and thanks for the heads-up on the extreme 4WD loop ... crikey! To all our Ténéré Tragics, send us your stories and photos and we'll post them up here so all of us can view them. And then we'll see you in the Flinders in March!

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS NEWS:

FIRST CAB OFF THE RANK!

Okay all you Ténéré Tragics who have registered, you will know full well by now that part of the festivities of the event will be the official Bivouac BBQ dinner being staged in the Flinders Ranges, where we will be dishing out a whole stack of awards in various categories.

While we're still dreaming up a heap of awards, we do have our first winner!

And that’s to the first Ténéré Tragic to register for the event ... and without further ado the winner is Riaan Landman from South Australia.

Riaan rides a new XT660Z Ténéré and fired his Registration right back to us within hours of the information being sent to all the riders who had emailed us to get on the Ténéré Tragics database.

On ya Riaan, we look forward to seeing you in the Flinders and handing over your award -- but we're not going to tell you what it is yet!

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS DREAMING #1:

MEET MISS TENERE

Okay, to all you Ténéré Tragics who have already registered and paid up to be a part of our inaugural Run to the Rocks next March, rest assured all the team here at TRAIL ZONE are going all-out to make this ride as memorable as possible.

We are scouring the globe for all things Ténéré in an absolute effort to overdose you on the Ténéré spirit during the ride.

In fact, we’ve even put the word out for suitable Ténéré legends to make a guest appearance.

We tracked down a phone number for Stephane Peterhansel and called it -- but the message said he was busy racing 4WDs. We’re still waiting for his call back.

We tracked down a phone number for Jean-Claude Olivier and called it – but the message said he was busy in retirement. We’re still waiting for his call back.

But what about Miss Tenere UK 1988 (see pic attached)?

Anyone know where to find her, or what she’d cost to get her all the way to Arkaroola?

And if she needs a lift from the airport in Adelaide, are any of you Tragics willing to give her a pillion?

If you’ve got the answers, email us at teneretragics@trailzone.com.au

BULLETIN #1

MORE DETAILS ON THE TENERE TRAGICS RIDE

If you want more details on the 2011 Ténéré Tragics Run to the Rocks event we are staging in the first week of March, then click on the image here and download it your computer.

This is document is event Bulletin #1, which outlines many of the details of what we’ve got planned for the Ténéré Tragics ride.

Read it all through, then if you're keen to come, email us at teneretragics@trailzone.com.au and request a registration form and we will send it to you.

Like we said before, if you ride a Ténéré or Super Ténéré, be it old or new, you just have to be there!

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

FIRST DETAILS:

2011 TENERE TRAGICS RUN TO THE ROCKS!

Hi there: my name is Clubby and I am a Ténéré tragic.

I'm also the Publisher of TRAIL ZONE magazine and have just pressed the button and released details of the inaugural Ténéré Tragics Run to the Rocks event to be staged in the Flinders Ranges on the first weekend of March next year.

The event is strictly for Ténérés only -- be they old or new, Ténéré or Super Ténéré -- and we are going all-out to make it a celebration of all things Ténéré.

www.offroadexplorer.com is a proud sponsor of the Ténéré Tragics ride, with Lance 'Russ' Turnley all set to give the ORE XTZ750 Super Tenere Project Bike a thundering debut in the Aussie outback on the official 'Getting There Ride' from central NSW that I will be leading to the Flinders.

www.adventuremoto.com.au is another event sponsor, while Yamaha Motor Australia has also confirmed its support of the ride, with a stack of award prizes to be dished out at the Ténéré Tragics Run to the Rocks Bivouac BBQ Dinner being staged at the event.

If you ride a Ténéré or Super Ténéré, old or new, you need to be there!

To get in on all the action -- but beware the event is limited to 50 riders -- then email me at teneretragics@trailzone.com.au and more event details and the official Registration form will be sent to you.

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1